Free Weekend

Finally, some free time! Yu, my Japanese roommate, went to Morocco and Megan went to France with her Mom this weekend. Besides Maria Carmen, I had the house all to myself. On Thursday, Maria Carmen went to tapas with Meg and her mom. She had to miss dinner, so Julia was supposed to make it for me. Around 8:30, there was a knock on my door and it was Juan Carlos (a rare sighting!). He said that Meg and her mom hadn´t shown up to meet Maria Carmen, so I called her. She was just around the corner, but running a bit late. Juan Carlos thanked me and said he was making me dinner because Julia was at church. I went out to see if I could help since I hate being the only one eating, and he was in the kitchen with a girl (I´m assuming girlfriend)... very awkward. The dinner was pretty terrible as I could tell he didn´t cook much. The soup was ice cold and there was so much oil on the food it was almost inedible. Either way, it was nice of him to come out of his room and make dinner.
After saying goodbye to Meg for the weekend, I went out to tapas with Amy, Monica, Emmett, and Richard. We ended up going to Bar Emilio, this really cool bar that seves porrones (lamp shaped drinks that you share amongst a group). I´ve been meaning to go there for a while, so I was excited. The other people went out to more bars or discotecas after that, but I called it an early night.
On Friday, I slept in and then went to the movies with my friend Robin and we saw New Moon in Spanish. During the movie these girls behind us kept oohing and ahhing over the cute guy, and afterward we realized they were American students we knew from the university. We all went to the Alcaiceria and did a little shopping. Afterward, I returned home for dinner and did some school work. It ended up being a super productive night and I finished two essays that are due in December as well as the Co-Curricular Learning Certificate application for Arcadia. I also finished reading Don Quixote in Spanish, which ended up not being too hard (in the abridged version).
On Saturday, I woke up a little earlier than usual (12 pm) and decided to go out and explore the city before everything closed down for siesta. I had the goal of buying a charm for my travel charm bracelet in mind and set out for some jewelry shops. It´s a tradition that Mom and Dad started of buying Clare and I charms for every vacation we take, so we can have a charm bracelet of all the places we´ve been. I went to more than 6 stores, but they either had no idea what I meant or they pulled out a bunch of random charms such as the Eiffel Tower or a seashell. I found one that had a Granada charm (a pomegranate that is the city symbol), but it was pretty ugly. I was just about to give up and head home for lunch when I stumbled upon a small store on a side street. In the window were a bunch of charms, one of them being a gold bull. I went inside and asked if they had it in silver, and sure enough, they did! I was so excited. Afterward, I ran into an old book store on my way home. I stopped in and asked if they had an old copy of Cervantes´ Don Quixote for my library at home. She pulled out a few REALLY old copies, that were basically falling apart, and told me they were over 90 euro. When I said I wanted something that would survive the trip home, she pulled out a new edition that looked exactly the same (except in better shape) and said it was only 15 euro. What a steal! It´s the complete works of Cervantes in hardcover leather. Overall, it was a perfect morning.
I went home for lunch and then talked to Mom and Dad for a bit on Skype. They are starting to decorate for Christmas, and I can´t wait to come home to see it all. Saturday night I went with Arcadia to a Flamenco concert in the gypsy neighborhood of Sacramonte. It was absolutely amazing; the stage had a huge window that overlooked the Alhambra. I thought I wouldn´t like the music, but I was very moved by the singing, even if I had trouble understanding all the lyrics. One woman danced alone for a few songs and it was extremely impressive. There was a man in front of us who kept talking and yelling out things during the songs, and about midway through the concert, after numerous ¨´Shhhhhhs´´, he was asked to leave. That´s how seriously they take the flamenco culture here. Afterward, Amy and I went to chupiteria with the ISU girls and, with her help, I finally got the shirt I´ve been hoping for. We all went to Granada 10 and danced the night away. Nothing too interesting happened, except a Moroccan guy who claimed we danced three weeks ago and that he´s been looking for me at the same discoteca every week (I never went back). That was weird. A group of us walked home together, including a German exchange student who was so fun! She´s 24 and studying landscape design.
Sunday I slept all day, except for meals. Unfortunately, lunch was that disgusting mix of rice, egg, and tomato sauce that Meg and I were hoping to avoid. I Skyped with Clare for a while and then Yu came back from Morocco. We all had dinner and heard about her trip. She seemed to like it, although it doesn´t sound like they did too much besides see a camel and eat cous cous (although that could just be because of the translation).
This week I have two presentations and then I am headed to the Alpujarras with Arcadia to have our Thanksgiving hiking trip and dinner (wish me luck!). I hope everyone at home has a great Thanksgiving, I wish I could be there with you. I can´t believe I´ll be home within the month; I have less than 3 weeks of class left!

I love you all,
Em